Birch water becoming the latest wonder drink for the health obsessed
Birch sap, long consumed in parts of Europe and northern China and claimed to have many benefits, is fast turning into a global phenomenon, and is now on sale in Hong Kong
Still sipping on coconut water? Oh, that’s as yesterday as the Kardashians. There’s a new wonder drink in town that boasts a bounty of health benefits with just a quarter of the calories.
Birch water – which is really the sap tapped from birch trees – claims to restore vitality, boost immunity, detoxify the body, fight fatigue, relieve joint pain, eliminate cellulite, alleviate skin conditions and treat ailments such as flu, headaches, bronchitis and liver disease.
“Birch sap is an invaluable remedy for rheumatic diseases, the after-effects of gout, bladder obstructions, and countless chronic ills,” according to Baron Pierre-Francois Percy (1754-1825), army surgeon and inspector general to Napoleon.
Demand is coming from people looking for alternatives to soda
For sports, birch sap has been tested in Olympic athletes by the All-Russian Research Institute of Physical Culture and Sport. The institute, which analysed birch sap from Finland’s Nordic Koivu, the world’s leading birch sap producer, recommends the drink for optimising the functional state of the body during training and competition, and for accelerating recovery and preventing metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases.
It also has beauty benefits. When used in skincare products, birch sap is said to purify the skin, help restore skin tone and radiance, boost hydration and promote cell renewal, and revitalise the skin and improve its elasticity.
Birch water, which in the past year has been a hot commodity among the health-obsessed in Britain and the US, made its Hong Kong debut in June when local company Raleigh Sterling started importing Sibberi Birch Water. Fitness-oriented women and the yoga community have formed the bulk of customers, according to Christine Jagolino of Raleigh Sterling.
“[Drinking birch water] is the fashionable thing to do now,” says Jagolino. “It’s part of a new category of alternative ‘water’. Demand is coming from people looking for alternatives to soda.”